Roller-bearing cages



Nov. 8, 1966 J. B. RIPPLE 3,

ROLLER-BEARING CAGES Filed Jan. 8, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l FORMlNG SECTORS OF BEARING CAGE FROM POWDERED METAL FIG. 3

Y SINTERING i '1 SIZING gi WELDING PLURALITY OF SUCH SECTORS INTO BEARING CAGE FIG. I

km HHMI FIG. 4

INVENTOR. JOHN B. RIPPLE BY awe/1M ATTO R N EY FIG. 2

Nov. 8, 1966 J. B. RIPPLE 3,284,146

ROLLER-BEARING CAGES Filed Jan. 8, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOHN B. RIPPLE FIG. 7 BY GM 6. MM

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,284,146 ROLLER-BEARING CAGES John B. Ripple, 229 Lake Ave. NE., Massillon, Ohio Filed Jan. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 424,383 4 Claims. (Cl. 308-417) This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 198,814 filed May 31, 1962 (aban doned).

This invention relates to a new method of manufacturing a roller-bearing cage and the cage so manufactured.

A roller-bearing cage comprises an outer rim, an inner rim and webs connecting the two. The inner rim is formed with an inner-bore flange. The webs divide the space between the two rims into pockets. The shape of these pockets depends upon the shape of the roller bearingthat is, whether it is cylindrical, barrel shaped or tapered.

According to this invention the cage is made from sectors molded from powdered metal which may be steel, brass, aluminum, etc. These sectors are then adhered to one another, as by welding, or by the use of an adhesive, such as an epoxy resin, etc. All of the sectors are preferably identical. Each sector includes a portion of the inner rim, a portion of the outer rim, and at least one complete web, whether the web be in one piece or in two parts, as will be explained in what follows. The number of sectors is at least equal to the number of pockets. Generally the parts of each sector will be only those required to form one complete pocket, and this is particularly true in the application of the invention to the manufacture of larger cages. A sector may include two or more pockets, and this is particularly true if the sectors are small. In no case will a sector be larger than a 90'- degree section of the cage.

It is not possible to make a complete roller-bearing cage from powdered metal in a single operation. The difiiculty is that in a compacting die in which pressure would be applied to the ends of the web, the powder would not completely fill the web and be uniformly compressed throughout the web. As a result, the density of the molded part would vary too much to yield a uniformly strong product.

This is overcome by the present procedure in which the cage is built up from sectors each of which is formed in a mold in which the ram pressure is applied over the whole inner or outer face of each sector. This avoids transmitting the pressure from one portion of the product to another through a web or other restricted area which interferes with the free flow of the metal powder. Thus, the cage is made in sectors, each of which constitutes such a small portion of the inner or outer surface of the entire cage that during the molding operation it readily retains the metal powder distributed over the mold surface with sufficient uniformity to produce a cage sector of uniform density. If the cage is a large cage, for instance a cage inches in diameter, the molded sectors may measure up to several inches across. On the other hand, if the cage measures only 3 inches in diameter, the curvature is so great that each sector should not measure more than a fraction of an inch across. To illustrate: A cage measuring 15 inches in diameter may be made by welding many sectors together, and a cage measuring only 3 inches in diameter may be made up of only a relatively few sectors. The foregoing is only illustrative, but explains why it is possible to manufacture bearing cages from powdered metal sectors which are subsequently united, whereas it is impossible to compress a complete cage from powdered metal.

It is not necessary that the side edges of the roller pockets be radial, and in cages made according to this invention, only some may be radial. If the sector comprises a sufiiciently large fraction of an entire cage it may be impossible to make all of the side edges radial. Some may be radial, with others not radial because the ram which applies pressure to the powder in the mold must reciprocate vertically against the mold contents and the finished product must be separated vertically from the mold. It is possible to design such molds with the sides of all of the openings tapered at the same anglebut not radial. The top and bottom edges may be radial.

Thus, there will always be at least four sectors which are fastened together to form the cage and there may be as many as twenty or thirty or more, depending upon the number of pockets and whether each sector includes more than one pocket.

The invention is further described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a flow sheet which illustrates the usual steps of the process;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section of a mold, containing powdered metal, with the ram raised;

FIGURE 3 illustrates the same, but after the ram has been lowered;

FIGURE 4 is a plan View of the mold;

FIGURE 5 is a view in perspective of a usual form of sector;

FIGURE 6 shows a portion of a completed bearing formed from such sectors, broken away to show the various parts of the bearing in cross section; and

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a sector which embraces two pockets.

The sectors are molded from powdered metal. The edges of the sectors may be perpendicular, beveled or stepped. The edges of adjacent sectors, which are tobe united, are complementary to one another. They may touch before welding, or they may be spaced a short distance from one another-the space being filled with metal used for welding them together.

The sectors may be small and thin, for a cage that measures no more than a few inches across, and in this cage it may be desirable to provide a number of pockets in each sector. However, the size of the cage is unimportant and it may measure fifteen or twenty inches or more across.

In the manufacture of the thiner cages, the edges which are to be welded together usually abut one another or they may be slightly spaced. It is the edges of the sectors for larger cages, which are relatively thick, which are stepped or beveled.

The cages of thinner material may be shaped after the sectors are united, but thicker sectors must be carefully placed before welding, and the resulting cage will not thereafter be shaped. A fixture suitable for this purpose is shown in my copending application Serial No. 394,793 filed September 8, 1964. That application is hereby incorporated as a part of this dis-closure by this reference thereto. Unwanted excess metal formed by welding will be removed in any suitable manner.

FIGURE 1 is a flow sheet which represents the usual steps involved in molding sectors and welding these into a bearing cage. The sintering and sizing of the metal may be repeated several times, particularly to prevent brittleness.

The molding operation is usual. The mold of FIG- URES 24 is of the type generally used for sectors of smaller bearings. The cavity 10 for the web is provided with a kink at 11 which is straightened out when pressure is applied to the cone-roll-cage assembly to force the roller into place. The upper part of the mold is provided with openings 12 and 13 to apply pressure to the inner and outer rims as well as the web. Pressure is applied by the ram 15, and FIGURE 3 shows the ram in contact with the pressed metal.

FIGURE 5 illustrates a sector such as is commonly used for a larger cage. The web 20 is perfectly straight, being angled to facilitate molding and withdrawal from the mold. The ends of the rims are shown stepped, in dotted lines to indicate how complementary ends can be formed for subsequent overlapping and spot welding.

The sector includes a portion of the outer rim 22, a portion of the inner rim 23, and the web 20. The inner rim includes the inner-bore flange 24. The sector of the outer rim is, of course, somewhat longer than the sector of the inner rim because the outer rim is of larger diameter. Any desired number of such sectors are welded together along the lines (FIGURE 6) to form the complete cage. A r-oller 30 (FIGURE 6) is inserted in each of the pockets 31 and the cage, rollers and cone are assembled together. The cone and cup are identified as 33 and 34.

At present, it is common practice to make cages, especially the larger cages, by machining castings or forgings. It is also common practice to make cages by cupping a sheet of metal, stamping out the bottom of the cup, and cutting openings for the rollers. The method of the present invention requires little or no machining and no scra is formed except the dust that may be formed by machining imperfections away, and this may be reused. In assembling the sectors, a suitable fixture will ordinarily be employed and the welding or adhesive treatment may be carried out in any desired manner.

Although the pockets in FIGURE 6 are designed for a tapered roller, it is to be understood that the pockets may 'be of any shape, depending upon the shape of the roller.

It is to be noted that all of the sectors -in FIGURE 2 are identical. It is not necessary that they be identical, although this simplifies their manufacture. The sectors are shown as symmetrical, but the web of each sector need not be joined to the rim sectors at this midpoints.

Alternatively, each sector may comprise one or more complete pockets. Then the web portions may be welded together. FIGURE 7 illustrates a sector which comprises two complete pockets. It is noted that the outside webs 40 and 41 are each only about half as wide as the center web 42. This is so that when such portions of adjacent sectors are welded together the web that is formed will be only as wide as web 42.

The cage of a roller bearing is not subjected to any substantial strain; however, the cages formed according to this invention are strong and will last as long as cages produced in the usual manner when subjected to comparable wear.

The invention is defined in the claims which follow.

What I claim is:

1. An annular roller-hearing cage which comprises spaced rims with interconnecting webs which are generally axial, the rims and webs defining pockets for rollers, the cage being composed of sectors adhered to one another circumferentially side by side, each sector being molded from powdered metal, the number of sectors being no more than the number of pockets in the cage, and the cage comprising at least four such sectors.

2. An annular roller-bearing cage of claim 1 in which the number of sectors is equal to the number of pockets in the cage.

3. An annular roller-bearing cage of claim 1 composed of sectors adhered to one another at the rims only.

4. An annular roller-bearing cage of claim 1 formed of sectors adhered to one another through the length of at least some of the webs between the edges thereof, the lines of adhrence which extend through the Webs continuing through the rims.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,038,010 4/1936 Smith.

2,534,379 12/1950 Schreiber 308-217 2,566,421 9/1951 La Pointe 308-235 X 2,569,531 10/1951 Kunzog.

2,591,160 4/1952 Kilian 29-1484 2,706,693 4/1955 Haller 29-1495 2,725,265 11/1955 Daniels et al. 29-1495 3,004,809 10/1961 Bratt 308-235 X 3,199,935 8/1965 Pitner 308-217 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

FRANK SUSKO, Examiner. 

1. AN ANNULAR ROLLER-BEARING CAGE WHICH COMPRISES SPACED RIMS WITH INTERCONNECTING WEBS WHICH ARE GENERALLY AXIAL, THE RIMS AND WEBS DEFINING POCKETS FOR ROLLERS, THE CAGE BEING COMPOSED OF SECTORS ADHERED TO ONE ANOTHER CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SIDE BY SIDE, EACH SECTOR BEING MOLDED FROM POWDERED METAL, THE NUMBER OF SECTORS BEING NOR MORE THAN THE NUMBER OF POCKETS IN THE CAGE, AND THE CAGE COMPRISING AT LEAST FOUR SUCH SECTORS. 